Mason Admits To Murder, Gets Life Term

In a plea agreement that will spare him from possibly being executed, a 33-year-old former convict was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday after admitting that he killed a Spring Grove woman.

In another part of the deal, Burl Mason agreed to never seek clemency or any other relief from his sentence for the Aug. 9, 1991, rape and strangulation of neighbor Susan Pauly.

Lawyers for both sides said there was overwhelming physical evidence, including fingerprints and blood tests, that linked Mason to Pauly's slaying. Until Tuesday, Mason had never admitted to the crime.

"It's a good deal for us because it means that Burl Mason is going to be in prison for the rest of his life," said Assistant Lake County State's Atty. Matthew Chancey.

Public Defender David Brodsky said his client was happy to avoid a death sentence.

"That was his major consideration in taking the plea," Brodsky said.

The admission to first-degree murder but being mentally ill when he killed Pauly ended more than 18 months of legal wrangling, psychiatric tests, court hearings, and mental health treatment for Mason.

In a soft voice that was barely audible in the Waukegan courtroom, Mason told Judge Raymond McKoski that he wished to give up his right to a trial and never seek redress from the sentence.

Mason, who lived across the street from Pauly, told the judge that he wants to go to Stateville Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison near Joliet. That is where Mason spent one of his previous three prison sentences on a theft charge.

Prosecutors were going to seek the death penalty if Mason had been convicted in a trial.

"Our main purpose in agreeing to this sentence was to have a finality to the sentence," said State's Atty. Michael Waller. "When Mr. Mason agrees not to pursue any postjudgment relief, that makes his natural-life sentence pretty final."

Included in the agreement is the stipulation that Mason never write Gov. Jim Edgar or any of his successors to seek clemency or any other relief from his sentence.

Waller said such an agreement is rare in Lake County courts.

The guilty plea and sentence evolved over the last week in negotiations between prosecutors Chancey and John Kornak and Brodsky and Joy Palmer, an assistant public defender.

Pauly's father and three sisters were in court when the agreement was announced and declined to comment.

Mason, who suffers from Munchasen syndrome, a rare mental disorder, sat in a wheelchair and had only brief and polite answers to the judge's questions. Doctors said Mason's mental condition is characterized by an obsessive need to play sick or injured and seek medical attention.

Over the last 14 years, according to court testimony, Mason has sought hospitalization more than 80 times and has eaten light bulbs, coat hangers and other non-nutritious items.

"No one knows any physical reason why he claims he cannot walk and is in a wheelchair," Brodsky said. "That is consistent with his Munchasen syndrome."

The murder of Pauly, who lived alone, shocked the quiet, rural community of Spring Grove, which has a population of less than 600.

After the killing, Mason stole Pauly's red Chevrolet Blazer and drove to California and Arizona.

Authorities said Mason did a lousy job of covering his trail. When the vehicle was found in Arizona, they said, a Golden Gate Bridge receipt with Mason's signature, as well as his billfold and identification, were found in the Blazer.

At the time, Mason had checked into an Arizona hospital, feigning a heart attack.

Dr. Nancy Jones, a coroner's pathologist, said an autopsy showed that in addition to being strangled, Pauly had injuries to her eyes, neck, face, tongue and other parts of her body.

Chancey and Kornak told the judge that an electrical cord, apparently used in the murder, was found under the pillow on the bed where Pauly's body was discovered by a sister.

Kornak said testing showed that semen found in the victim matched that of Mason and that blood on jeans found in Mason's home was Pauly's.

The prosecutor said Mason's fingerprints were found on plastic bags in Pauly's home. He also said yellow duct tape that was used to bound Pauly's hands and feet was similar to the tape found in Mason's house.

"We believed our evidence against Mason was overwhelming," Waller said after the sentencing.

He said seven people have been sentenced to be executed for murder in Lake County since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1977. Two of them were later given lesser sentences; the others are on appeal.

"As a practical matter, it can be said that the death penalty in Illinois is not carried out, except for the one guy who volunteered to died," Waller said, referring to Charles Walker, who was executed in 1990. "In 16 years, that is a rather sad state of affairs."